While the president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, was engaging in diplomatic discussions with EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, a new version of the one billion euro rescue plan arrived on the regional council’s table. There is cautious optimism regarding this plan at Palazzo d’Orleans. The Supervisory Committee gave initial approval at the end of September, which, if confirmed by the EU Commission, would allow for the allocation of around 800 million euros. This maneuver reallocates funds from stalled projects to others that are progressing faster or to expenses already made with regional financing. The Irfis announced yesterday that they are ready to invest an additional 65 million euros to move up the ranking list for grants assigned to businesses affected by Covid. This extra funding, combined with the 22 million euros received a few months ago, brings the accounting budget for Brussels’ rescue plan for the funds from 2014-2020 to 87 million euros. Overall, 369.5 million euros have been allocated to grants for businesses and families. In addition, 94 million euros will be declared as invested for the purchase of anti-Covid vaccines, and 117 million euros will be certified as spent on sewage and purification systems. The remaining corrections suggested by the Supervisory Committee that were added to the rescue plan include cuts to projects for sustainable energy (250 million euros), poverty reduction (49 million euros), waste management infrastructure (114 million euros), and climate change and weather-related crisis interventions (65 million euros). The Region is attempting to reallocate these funds to other programs in order to demonstrate corresponding spending. However, this operation is risky and requires approval from Brussels as well as all the necessary paperwork to be submitted to the European Commission by December 31st. Anything that remains unallocated by that date will be returned to Brussels, constituting another missed opportunity. President Schifani discussed this with Commissioner Ferreira, expressing optimism about the region’s commitment to closing the 2014-2020 programming and absorbing the allocated resources.
Regione Siciliana, nuovo piano di salvataggio per i fondi dell’Unione Europea
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